Maybe not in the profile people typically envision, but Jon and Judy Thorsheim are investors.
Both invested their lives in teaching professions, serving schools in Hastings, Nebraska. They graduated from Sioux Falls College in the 1960s and have maintained and invested in relationships created during their student days and have kept these long enough for both to enjoy 50-year reunions back on campus.
They also helped make it possible for their daughter, Lynn Thorsheim Strack, to become a graduate of the University of Sioux Falls.
To be an investor, first you need to believe in the values and mission.
"We like USF first and foremost because it is a Christian university," Judy says. "Because it is not a large university, it affords a more personal interest in each student and definitely a Christian emphasis in all facets of college life—academics, dorm life, activities, interactions with professors, and in so many other ways."
Then you need the right information. Jon and Judy became acquainted with members of the USF.
Institutional Advancement Office and over the years they were presented some investment options.
"When we were eventually financially able to make an investment, a charitable gift annuity was the right plan for us," Jon says. "The interest rate was good, and our annuities provide a regularly scheduled payment of the interest to us to supplement our income during our retirement years."
Then you need the right motivation.
"We both received some scholarships years ago when we were students and so did our daughter, which helped us financially with her college education as we had two children in college at the time," Judy says. "Establishing a charitable gift annuity is our way of giving back to our alma mater, but our investment is a lasting legacy and a lasting impact on future generations of USF students."
So what is a CGA? In return for a gift, a fixed percentage is paid to one or two donors for their lifetime(s). The rate is based on the age of the donor(s). They receive a tax deduction for a portion of their gift and a portion of the money paid back is tax-free. Upon their death, the balance is available for the University of Sioux Falls as the donor directs.
We are grateful for the Thorsheims' willingness to learn and for their motivation to establish a CGA. In fact, they've set up two. That's what investors do—they believe in something, they get good information, they give, and they make a difference for others.
